Chefs learn about big agriculture

Under the panoramic blue sky, our tour bus turned off Highway No. 2 south of Moose Jaw and teetered and tottered its way over hills of blondish green prairie grasses and pretty yellow and white wild flowers and past sloughs dotted with ducks. Out on the seemingly barren expanse, the area teams with life, home to such species at risk as Loggerhead Shrikes, Sprague’s Pipits and northern leopard frogs. It is here that the Andrews family, fourth generation ranchers, raise their cattle year round.

Triple A Hereford Ranch, located outside of Moose Jaw is a fourth generation ranch owned by the Andrews family. Left to right: Parents Russell and Faye, Murray, son Luke and wife Bridget. CJ Katz / For The Leader-Post

REGINA — Under the panoramic blue sky, our tour bus turned off Highway No. 2 south of Moose Jaw and teetered and tottered its way over hills of blondish green prairie grasses and pretty yellow and white wild flowers and past sloughs dotted with ducks. Out on the seemingly barren expanse, the area teams with life, home to such species at risk as Loggerhead Shrikes, Sprague’s Pipits and northern leopard frogs.

It is here that the Andrews family, fourth generation ranchers, raise their cattle year round.

Using rotational grazing practices to keep the native prairie grasses in good condition, their 250-head herd, which will grow to 400 by the fall, is much larger than the average Saskatchewan beef farm. They move their beeves through six giant sections throughout the season. In May and June, for example, they munch on tame grasses like alfalfa and crested wheat and by fall shift onto native grasses like western wheat, needle-and-thread and blue grama.

The Andrews were just one of many family-run agricultural businesses a group of Regina chefs and food professionals from across Canada and the U.S. visited on a two-day farm tour presented by Farm &amp; Food Care Saskatchewan.

“I did not realize the scale Saskatchewan has to offer and how big spring wheat, durum, flax and mustard are to the world,” remarked Leo Pantel, chef at the Conexus Arts Centre.

Indeed, living in Saskatchewan, we are surrounded by agriculture, big agriculture. With a land area of 592,534 square kilometres, our sunny province is a major player. It accounts for 40 per cent of Canada’s farmland. More than 60 million acres produce agricultural products with 33 million a sea of chickpeas, lentils, wheat, flax, mustard, and other pulses and grains. And contrary to the notion that farming is a multinational business, food production in Saskatchewan is still very much a family affair.

Focusing mostly on the production side, we met producers genuinely passionate about being stewards of the land. For example, since 2006, the Andrews have been using solar powered watering systems to provide clean water in the pasture. They have turned marginal land back into forage to reduce salinity and soil erosion and graze their cattle year round on the open prairie, through rain and hail, snow and wind.

Chamberlain-area grain and pedigreed seed growers Patrick and Donna Ackerman use continuous and rotational cropping practices to conserve water and increase efficiency and yields. The couple, who were nominated in 2008 for Saskatchewan Outstanding Young Farmers, are the third generation to work the land. On their 6,000 acres, they have grown just about every grain and pulse Canada exports. Because they keep up with technology and invest millions of dollars in the best equipment, they have also been able to cut back pesticide and herbicide use.

The tour took us within an hour radius of Regina, travelling down highways and dirt roads, past grain elevators and many farms. In Lumsden, we wound our way right into a vast field of cabbage and cauliflower owned by Shawn Hansen of Craven Riverside Gardens. He learned the art of growing vegetables as a young lad when his father put him out in the field to work. Today, he grows 400 acres of mixed vegetables.

As our group munched on fresh-cut pieces of milky white cauliflower and ate forkfuls of sour cabbage, Hansen explained that much of what they grow is hand picked, trimmed and loaded into cardboard boxes right in the field. Today you can purchase their produce at local Co-op grocery stores. In fact, chances are your purchase will have been harvested just a couple of days earlier. That’s faster and fresher than any load trucked hundreds and thousands of miles away.

The tour, which visited other family operations such as Lajord Hutterite colony where they raise chickens and dairy cattle, Young’s Farm Equipment, which now has 250 employees and nine locations, and CanMar Grains, exporters of roasted flax worldwide, was an eye-opener. For example, wheat and flax, grown in Saskatchewan and Canada have not been genetically modified.

“I like to educate people with facts so you can make better decisions,” said Mairlyn Smith, professional home economist and a regular guest on Toronto’s Breakfast TV.

“Because of the foodie nature of my lifestyle, I can get a balanced view,” added Dana McCauley, founder of Food Trends TV.

The tour was about building bridges and creating stronger ties with chefs and writers and ultimately, the consumer. As Adele Buettner, CEO of Farm &amp; Food Care Saskatchewan explained, “Our mandate is to build that bridge with consumers on where and how food is grown in Saskatchewan, and to show how farmers and ranchers provide safe, wholesome, healthy and responsibly produced food to our tables and tables around the world.”

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